Last month, on the way home to Manila from UPLB in Laguna, a fruit caught my attention. It appeared to me like a big atis [Eng. Sugar Apple or Sweetsop] or anonas [Eng. custard apple] at the same time. The vendor called the fruit BIRIBA. She said that it’s a hybrid fruit — a cross between guyabano, [or did I hear her say “cherimoya”?] and an Atis, a product of an experimentation by UPLB. Others call it ATEMOYA (pls. click to read atemoya). I do not really know whether what she said is true or not but out of curiosity and in wanting to know how the hybrid fruit tastes, I bought one. Here’s how biriba looks like:
I honestly did not like its taste however. Walang lasa! It isn’t sweet like an atis, and much less, it didn’t taste like guyabano. I like both atis and guyabano; am quite familiar with their taste but biriba is neither one of the two when it comes to its taste. Of course, your taste bud is different from mine. You might be saying something else when you come to taste it.